Cross Stitch Hearts

For Valentine’s Day this year I wanted to do a post focusing on patterns with hearts and one without hearts (coming soon!) so you have the option of being traditionally romantic or less so.

You won’t be surprised to know the first pattern in this genre to catch my eye was this knit heart from Cross Stitch Foxy. It’s a great one to make for the knitter in your life or anyone else where love feels like a work in progress (which it is, all the time). The design is 91 by 80 stitches, which comes out to 6.5 by 5.7 inches, or 16.5 by 14.5 cm. It uses eight colors.

And while we’re on the subject of representing other crafts in cross stitch, this heart from Tiny Modernist reminds me a bit of a quilt block. You can download this one from Fat Quarter Shop. It is 28 by 35 stitches, which is 2 by 2.5 inches on 14 count fabric (about 5 by 6.3 cm). It uses five colors.

I also love this collection from SamXStitch that looks like different fabrics stitched into heart shapes. There’s plaid, a woven design and other fun repeating patterns. Each heart uses the same five colors so you can make the whole set and hang them together. Each one is 43 by 41 stitches, which on 14 count fabric comes out to 3.07 by 2.93 inches, or 7.8 by 7.44 cm.

Or there’s this five heart set from Lagodargento Shop that gives you more nice heart cross stitch patterns to choose from. These are all worked in a single color and fit in 4-inch hoops for easy gifting or display.

And this one is a little different from the others but I couldn’t resist because I know so many people meet their partners online these days. I’m so glad I swiped right is a pattern by Faber Cross Stitch that includes a cute little gingham heart. This pattern uses four colors and measures 56 by 51 stitches. It fits in a 5-inch hoop.

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

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